16th May 2019 - Andrew

Long flights on Turkish Airways: Great food, metal cutlery, lots of cool movies. The transfer in Istanbul is very crowded and crazy but we get through it in good time. At the Athen’s end we get picked up easily in a big, black Peugeot and taken to the Margi. What we see of Athen’s outskirts seems rural and often broken down or unoccupied - lots of graffiti.

The Margi is beautiful and friendly - and they let us check in early (9am) and sleep! The hotel has a great pool/bar area but not much in terms of a view. After a few hours sleep we wake and hang around the pool (Cara has no swimming costume!) and get some good food and cocktails. We hang out in the semi-sun and Cara swims.

At 8pm we go for dinner in the Patio fine dining restaurant. The waiter is an interesting guy who lived in Santorini for a few years and tells us lots of interesting things - he also has great wine knowledge.

Lots of great food:

  • Amuse bouche with white chocolate and caviar
  • Savoury Strawberry soup
  • Sea Urchin (mousse and eggs and lemon)
  • Fish and Archichoke
  • Cheeses from Greece, Italy and France
  • Lobster with savoury fruit salad - mango, carrot, papaya.
16th May 2019 - Cara

Greek Wines are beautiful. This is completely unexpected as we were warned that they sucked.

  • Sparkling wine from a Peloponnese winery like a sparkling Semillon
  • Same Winery also made a Merlot we drank later which was okay - Good taste but no length or body
  • Beautiful white from Santorini. Mineral, high acidity but rounded and not sharp. Like a buttery Chardonnay without the heaviness or any hint of cat.

The music that has been played in our hotel, taxis, restaurants is out of time. Great pop and rock but most of it at least a decade old.